


The great escapist

by SleepyRosey



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: F/M, Her name is Lana Frey BTW, Just my apprentice having a fun night for once
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-21
Updated: 2019-04-21
Packaged: 2020-01-23 13:21:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18550609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SleepyRosey/pseuds/SleepyRosey
Summary: Lana Frey had to get the murderer of Countess Nadia to justice. She always ended up at the rowdy following the suspect, though he would always slip away. Now she's caught up in having a fun night and completely forget her duties due to the handsome Doctor Julian Devorak!





	The great escapist

The bustling of the rowdy ravens’ patrons could be heard in the background, though her focus was only on the man at the bar.

Julian Devorak.

The man wanted by the countess for the murder of her late husband. He was strikingly handsome and stood out like a sore thumb with his dark choice of clothing, so how he hadn’t been caught yet was a surprise. She had followed him to this place multiple times and always sat at the back in the shadows. Sure, Devorak wasn’t an idiot so she was sure he knew she always sat there. It had become almost a ritual every time she even set one foot out the palace gates;

See Julian, follow him and of course end up watching over the rim of her cup in the back, covered by a grey hood. Always observing how his half-lidded eye complimented his sly grin so perfect, and when he spoke guys and girls alike would stare at him here and there, while chuckling and giggling at every joke, whether they were even sitting near him. He was indeed the center of attention and while he never gave it away, he loved it, yet he was also a private man. He was a hard puzzle to figure out.

At the end of his stay he’d make sure to start a party and leave in the midst of the chaos, while Lana would have no way to see him escape. She wasn’t meant to find out where else he would spend his time.

_Why didn’t she just sit next to him?_

No way, she had seen how the countess had been towards her guards, dressing them up and having them hide from a little apprentice. And if she was seen with the supposed murderer of her husband, who knows how she would react?

Like many other nights she watched as Julian made a B-line towards the little band and asked for a song. She could already feel the air shift to slightly more upbeat and tense as the musicians took their places. The apprentice, Lana Frey, had decided this was the last night Julian got away from her and she wanted her answers _tonight_.

As she stood and made way to the forming circle in the middle, she suddenly felt the hairs raised on her neck as a certain voice called out.

“Finally out of that sulking corner? I must say you shouldn’t hide in such a dark place with those beautiful features of yours.”

Lana pulled at the top of her hood and wanted to walk to the other side, though a gloved hand gripped her wrist with surprising delicacy. She suddenly came face to face with doctor Devorak himself, who tried and failed to hide his flushed face by turning to the side, as if to avoid her strong gaze on him, even though she had been staring at him almost the whole time he had resided at the bar desk.

"I'd like to keep my dignity, thank you. If the countess were told I'd been conversing with the suspect…Well, you get the jist hopefully."

"Observant and careful as always. But why not let our roles in this life slide for just a moment? And you surely have noticed the crows going wild when guards are near."

True, a curious crow always seemed to warn the doctor at the most convenient of moments, before the place gets barged with royal guards. Devoraks confidents comes and goes but now he is staring with great interest, and Lana feels she can't even shake her head "no". Julian finds this to be a test and slowly strings Lana along closer to the center of the Rowdy Raven, finding satisfaction when her ears turn rosy and walks willingly, soon standing with all eyes on them. The center of attention as always.

The music slowly starts with a small tune of a flute, soon accompanied by strings and drums. Julian lifts the hand he'd gripped so gently and turns so they face each other, perhaps a little too close for strangers.

The beat picks up, while Julian swings Lana around faster and faster, their feet matching perfectly and never touching the wooded floor for long before a new step. It had been a while since Lana had danced, only with Asra once in the shop when he'd come back from a trip with exciting stories. Though now Lana felt a new kind of excitement.

Not being able to stop the smile and the apple cheeks with it, she felt how the blood in her body turned her whole face red. The music had seemed to be louder and clearer, only stopping when she was pulled close to Julian, hearing his quickly beating heart, and then gracefully spun outwards again.

She didn't notice but suddenly they were on a table with the crows around them. Laughter, clapping, music, it all filled her head, but not one more the man she was dancing with. He was the only thing clear thing in that moment. Julian's puffy white shirt stuck lightly with sweat, along with his hair, to his skin. The grey eyes showed nothing but a happy man, which was rare for someone like Julian, as Asra had said; loved his own self-loathing.

_Perhaps I'll let my role slide just for tonight, Doctor,_ Lana thought.

Julian had enough of the small space on the table, jumped down and without second thought took hold of Lana's hips to bring her down. A small moment was shared when her feet was back on the ground, and looked into those pale orbs that grew just a little bigger in shock and embarrassment. Now it would be Lana's turn to drag the Doctor back to the floor in a spin, as she wrapped the flustered man's arms around her till she stood with her back against his chest.

Around them men and women had started to dance slower and closer amongst the bar, as the music had taken on a lighter tone to set the mood. Julian's other arm steadily found it's place around Lana, feeling her heart beat matching his own. And it was not calm.

Thoughts raced in his head, for he had only been able to dream of something like this. Surely he had an interest in the apprentice, but she was right; if they were seen together, nothing but trouble would come their way. Julian would just have to save this moment in his memories. How she radiated so much heat from their dance, how she clutched herself to his arms, almost pulling him even closer if possible and how they seemed to fit together like perfect puzzle pieces…

When the music stopped, the apprentice and Doctor pulled apart with a sigh unheard by the other.

"Well, thank you for the dance Doctor…"

"My pleasure apprentice…"

Lana placed har hood over her hair once more, "I should get back before sunrise." "Ah, of course, safe journeys to you," Julian sheepishly stepped a little to the side, granted access to the exit further away. Casting her eyes in the floor and walking past Julian, she felt that gloved hand again. Turning around she saw it raised to his lips as he placed a feathery kiss on her knuckles. Both of their faces could put a fresh tomato to shame, Lana at a loss for words.

"…Perha- _Ahem_ \- Perhaps we could repeat this evening another time?"

She nodded her head, and watched the eyes replace doubt and shame with happiness. "Splendid," he straightened to his full height again, and placed a hand at Lana's back, "well you should get going before trouble comes for you." He led her to the exit and sent her off into the dawn.

Just like the dance his heart felt like it would beat right out of his chest, unknowing to the fact that Lana felt the exact same way.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [The Great Escapist (Rewritten work from myself)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20312974) by [SleepyRosey](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SleepyRosey/pseuds/SleepyRosey)




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